Bumper plans for Bicester Village with 28 more shops and 519 extra parking bays

Tom Burton

The shopping village will soon have 28 new shops and 519 extra car park bays

Plans have been revised from an almost-identical application from last summer

Shoppers will benefit from a new Park and Ride and improved road networks

Bicester Village will gain more shops and extra parking bays after plans to demolish Tesco and expand the outlet were given the green light.

The shopping village, which attracts millions of visitors each year, will increase in size by 24 per cent once the building work is completed.

“Bicester Village attracts millions of visitors from across the world each year so it’s important that provisions are in place to meet that demand”

Andy Preston

It will add an extra 5,191 square metres of retail space and the main access road will get two new lanes and a set of traffic lights to ease congestion.

The plans, approved by Cherwell District Council yesterday, were revised from the initial application last July to add 519 parking spaces rather than 372.

Developers Bicester Nominees Ltd & Bicester II Nominees Ltd submitted the application which involve bulldozing over Tesco, the petrol station and part of the existing outlet to make room for 28 more shops.

There will also be a new Park and Ride facility, a new footpath to the train station and various cycle and pedestrian routes, including direct links to the town centre.

Andy Preston, Cherwell’s head of development management, said: “Bicester Village attracts millions of visitors from across the world each year so it’s important that provisions are in place to meet the demand.

“This increase in spaces, plus the associated transport improvements, should help to achieve that goal. It will also improve access from Bicester Village to the town centre which will hopefully boost footfall for all of the local traders.”

Traffic lights will be installed at the Pingle Drive roundabout and two new Eastbound lanes will be added to the A41 at the Esso roundabout.

Bicester Village opened with 65 shops in 1995 and has since doubled that to more than 130 with 1,838 car parking spaces.